Sara Pakdaman Sara Pakdaman

Reading
B2 level

Description

In this lesson, students learn about supporting details, coherency and cohesion through guided discovery based on a reading text. The lesson starts with a warm-up activity, that is, a few comprehension questions on the text they read during the previous session, making references to their own ideas shared on a padlet page. This is followed by a referencing activity, through which they become familiar with cohesive devices. Finally, the lesson provides the students with the opportunity to engage in a highly interactive speaking activity, forming their own arguments and supporting details.

Materials

No materials added to this plan yet.

Main Aims

  • To provide detailed reading practice using a text about causes of conflict

Subsidiary Aims

  • To provide practice of language used for making arguments and supporting detail in the context of sociological and/or psychological phenomena

Procedure

Lead-in (5-7 minutes) • To refresh students' recollection of the theme and message of the reading text

The instructor invites the students to brainstorm and share what they remember from the previous sessions' reading text's main and supporting arguments. They may refer to the padlet page they created previously.

Cohesive Devices_Intro (5-10 minutes) • To familiarize students with pronouns and linkers at the service of the text's coherency

The instructor asks the students to brainstorm about the reasons for which they managed to find titles for each paragraph of the previous session's text, guiding them to reach the conclusion that paragraphing is one of the cohesive devices authors employ in order to make their texts easy to follow. Then, the instructor draws the students' attention to the first and second paragraph of the text, eliciting the connectives, pronouns, and classificatory terms.

Connectives and Pronouns (15-20 minutes) • To give the students controlled practice of cohesive devices

The instructor shares a worksheet with students, containing highlighted pronouns and connectives taken from the reading text. The students are tasked to state what each pronoun refers to and what the purpose of each connective is. They will check their answers in pairs, and the instructor elicits whole-class responses, and encourages peer feedback.

Freer Speaking Practice (30-35 minutes) • To provide students with the opportunity to form their arguments and supporting details

Students are asked to choose one of the below prompt questions shared with them, and form a clear argument, along with 3-5 supporting evidence. They are also expected to use cohesive devices in their speeches. While preparing, they are allowed to use their electronic devices in order to find evidence online. Once they are through with their task, they are required to visit three of their classmates, and share their arguments. Each student is provided with a task-sheet where they note down the arguments, supporting details, and cohesive devices they detect in their peer's speech. At the end of the activity, the instructor invites volunteers to share the best arguments they had a chance to listen to.

Exit Activity (3-5 minutes) • To summarize the reading and expressive techniques

If time allows, the instructor shares with the students a kahoot link, where they respond to a number of comprehension check questions on how to provide a reasonable argument.

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